Coon Rapids man dies in 3-car crash in Rice County

A 39-year-old Coon Rapids man died late Sunday in a three-vehicle crash on northbound Interstate 35 in Rice County.

Mach B. Kuel was killed in the crash, which happened just after 11:15 p.m.

The first of three vehicles involved in the crash was stopped and blocking the left lane of I-35 when a second northbound vehicle stopped to avoid the first, pulling over onto the shoulder and activating its hazard lights. A third northbound vehicle, in which Kuel was a passenger, sideswiped the first vehicle and struck the second one.

Kuel was one of four people in the third vehicle; none of the others were seriously hurt. The drivers of the first two cars and a passenger in the second were not hurt.

Kuel was not wearing a seat belt, according to the State Patrol.

His death was one of at least two over the Memorial Day weekend on Minnesota roads. Cody James Swanson, 24, of Farmington, died early Sunday when the stolen car he was driving crashed into a tree in Red Wing, Minn., ending a 37-mile chase by police after Swanson fled an attempted traffic stop.